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Hmm...
So eps 1 started with OP but no ED?? Quite contrast with the first ep of Bake.
And there are some scenes where Araragi is being censored in the eye (when he talks on the phone with Nadeko, and when he talks with Mayoi about money and supermarket)
Dunno if it is intentional, or just animation mistake.

Personal opinion:
Yesh, it is always nice to see Hitagi again. But didnt that is too extreme??
Locking someone for the whole weeks for protecting them. Hitagi, you are getting extreme... (And it reminds me of Yuno from Mirai Nikki)

Hmm...
So eps 1 started with OP but no ED?? Quite contrast with the first ep of Bake.
And there are some scenes where Araragi is being censored in the eye (when he talks on the phone with Nadeko, and when he talks with Mayoi about money and supermarket)
Dunno if it is intentional, or just animation mistake.

Location: I've moved around the American West. I've lived in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Oklahoma

Age: 38

Okay so people keep wondering why I gave a 1 to the first episode.

How do I put it. I can't even explain it fully to myself. It's not that I hate Shaft (although I'm not always a fan). And I enjoyed most of Bakemonogatari.

But this episode... it just felt... so forced. Like instead of Shaft being Shaft it was Shaft trying to be Shaft. Or maybe even as bad as Shaft tying to out Shaft Shaft.

The timing just seemed off, and the jokes were... I mean there was always lots of innuendo, but in Bakemonogatari it was clever, here it felt a little crude.

I wasn't planning to vote 1, but when I saw "Painful" I just couldn't help but vote for that option. Because that's what it was for me. It was painful to watch.

It's like getting the long awaited sequel to your favorite game, and it has even more of the things you liked in the original... but it just doesn't hang together like the original did. It's such a let down.

It'd be like watching Micheal Jordan make a comeback in basketball and having him completely suck his first game out instead of dominating the way he did in his prime.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but this episode just seemed... off. The whole time. I mean... it was fun in places, but even then it felt... off kilter.

__________________

Cross Game - A Story of Love, Life, Death - and Baseball. What more could you want?

Yesh, it is always nice to see Hitagi again. But didnt that is too extreme??
Locking someone for the whole weeks for protecting them. Hitagi, you are getting extreme... (And it reminds me of Yuno from Mirai Nikki)

Anyway great first episode to kick of Nise.
Awaiting next episode...

I think Hitagi knows her boyfriend all too well, and the lengths (and blood loss) that he will go through to save a pretty girl. That and she is a sadist at heart.

Location: I've moved around the American West. I've lived in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Oklahoma

Age: 38

???

I thought that whole scene with Hitagi was clearly symbolism.

The clue was when Araragi said she had locked him up in a cram school.

Hitagi has "imprisoned" him to force him to study. She won't even let him have bathroom breaks when she's there tutoring him. It's all pretty much in keeping with their relationship to a study session in to a roleplay of that kind of thing.

__________________

Cross Game - A Story of Love, Life, Death - and Baseball. What more could you want?

The clue was when Araragi said she had locked him up in a cram school.

Hitagi has "imprisoned" him to force him to study. She won't even let him have bathroom breaks when she's there tutoring him. It's all pretty much in keeping with their relationship to a study session in to a roleplay of that kind of thing.

The Hitagi part was the "Present" and the part when Araragi was waking was flashback to the start of summer and the start of the story.

The clue was when Araragi said she had locked him up in a cram school.

Hitagi has "imprisoned" him to force him to study. She won't even let him have bathroom breaks when she's there tutoring him. It's all pretty much in keeping with their relationship to a study session in to a roleplay of that kind of thing.

Pay attention to the dates. Araragi mentions that it's the 30th when imprisoned, and then wakes up the previous morning. It's sort of a "how did it come to this?" thing.

I sort of agree with you about it being somewhat disappointing overall though. I wouldn't call it "painful" but it wasn't particularly good either. I'm giving it a chance to create pay-offs in future episodes though. A lot of the cleverness in Bake came from serious callbacks to previously frivolous comments. We won't be able to tell how clever this episode was until later episodes. And given that the arcs are longer than they used to be, the pay-off may take even longer.

The clue was when Araragi said she had locked him up in a cram school.

Hitagi has "imprisoned" him to force him to study. She won't even let him have bathroom breaks when she's there tutoring him. It's all pretty much in keeping with their relationship to a study session in to a roleplay of that kind of thing.

That was far too straightforward for SHAFT brand symbolism. If it doesn't involve cabbage patch dolls, claymation, obscure 17th century woodblock prints and a pack of crayons in a blender set to puree, what you see is what you get.

I'm assuming Hitagi is using the cram school Oshino used to haunt because
1: shaft can meet their quota of school desks and chairs
2: It was the most convenient abandoned building she had available.
3: She is hoping it has some residual spiritual protection from Oshino's stay (my current wild crackpot theory based on little or no facts)

Can't wait for next Saturday to come.

Last edited by 00Coyote; 2012-01-07 at 23:29.
Reason: man, I can't spell

I like the Hachikuji part, especially monologue in the end... Incredible chara development there.

You can feel, Araragi is actually most comfortable around her than anybody else because he feel he's abnormal, he want to share his secret to his sister but can't, thus he feeling attached to Hachikuji as his sister replacement (on his mind).

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